The Women's Olympic ice hockey event took place for the third time in its history in Turin. As usual, the perennial favorites were the Canadians and the Americans - destined to meet in the final. Each had one Olympic title to date, the US winning the inaugural in 1998 in Nagano followed by the Canadians at the 2002 Salt Lake City event. Finland and Sweden were ready to assume their regular roles as spoilers, with no positive results prior to this event.
The Preliminary Round featured overpowering performances from the favorites and certainly no surprises. The aforementioned elite four easily advanced to the semi-finals as expected with defending Olympic champions Canada shutting down the Finns to reach the final. However, the other semi-final match produced the greatest upset in the history of women's ice hockey to date. Sweden defeated the favoured Americans by a score of 3 - 2 in a shoot-out. Goaltender Kim Martin did not surrender a goal in the shoot-out while Pernilla Winberg and Maria Rooth tallied to ensure victory.
While the Swedes would eventually lose to a dominant Team Canada in the Gold Medal Game, capturing the silver medal was a huge boost not only for the women's program back in Sweden but added some extra interest on a competitive level with the fact the one of the two "top dogs" had finally been beaten. A disappointed Team USA did however, go on to claim the bronze medal with Angela Ruggerio anchoring the defense and taking home Best Defenseman honours. Kim Martin's heroics earned her the Top Goaltender Award and Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser solidified her status as the best female player en route to receiving both the Best Forward and Tournament MVP awards after racking up 17 points during the event.
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